When Two World Collide
by smalldreams
Summary: Haley James was an average Aussie girl embarking on a journey to an American Boarding school, Nathan Scott was meant to have the best year of his life, but his parents were sending him to some stupid Boarding School.. bad summary/my first story : NALEY
1. New Beginnings

"_It's just gone 5a.m on this gorgeous Friday morning. It's the 28__th__ of August and there's only 3 days of winter to go!" the radio announcers voice seemed to whisper ever so quietly._

"I can't believe it's 5 in the morning, I honestly should be sound asleep!" Haley groaned.

"Well, sleep?" Jimmy sarcastically told her youngest daughter.

"Your funny Dad, you know that?"

"Oh, I try sweetie, I try."

"Haley, you and Peyton are the ones who kept me up all night." Jake whined. "The two of you basically talk in your sleep!"

"Aw Jake, you know that we offered for you to sleep in the other room, right?" Peyton asked her best friend.

"I know, I know." He replied defeated.

The three friends, along with Haley's father were headed to Sydney airport to catch a flight to L.A. In no time, Peyton and Jake were sound asleep and it was just Haley and her Dad in the front on the chilly winter morning.

"Where's your head at Haley Bob?" Jimmy asked.

"Just thinking how much I'm going to miss everyone." She told him.

"We're going to miss you too."

She smiled at her father, she loved him so much and she was starting to wonder why she decided to leave in the first place.

xxx

"Finished packing yet, Hot Shot?"

"Shit!" Nathan jumped "You scared the living daylights out of me Brooke."

"Well, actually Nate, you are still alive. So maybe, you should get your facts straight before you go accusing me of doing such things." She smiled.

"Oh really? Is that so?" Nathan just laughed.

"Just saying."

"But anyway, you still havn't answered my question. But I think I have my answer.." she said whilst looking around at all the clothes everywhere in his room.

Nathan just shrugged at his oldest friend.

"Honestly Nate, we leave on Saturday. Whether you like it or not, so start packing!"

"Exactly," Nathan agreed "We leave Saturday. I believe that's two sleeps Brooke. Plenty of time to pack, no need to rush things." He grumbled.

"C'mon, it'll be fun over there. You'll see." She smiled. "Now where is Lucas, I seen Karen and Keith here so he's around somewhere?"

"He's out back, bye Brooke" He said sarcastically.

"Bye Nate!" she yelled running down the stairs.

"She's a trouble maker, that Brooke Davis." Nathan's mum said.

"I don't want you to go." Nathan heard his little sister's voice. She was holding onto the teddy bear that Nathan had gotten her for her birthday.

"Aw Gem, I don't want to go either." He told her while picking her up and giving her a bear hug.

"I'll miss you." She pouted.

"I'll miss you too." He said before chucking her on the bed and tickling her, she was letting out fits of giggles and couldn't control her laughter.

"And I'll miss Brookie too, and Lucas." She said.

Nathan laughed at his little sister, she grew up so fast. He was going to miss her so much, that little girl had a way of making him smile when he didn't even want too.

"Gem, sweetie" Deb told her daughter "Go finishing packing up your dolls in your room."

"Ok, Mummy!" she skipped out of Nathan's room, down the hall and into her own.

"Ok," Deb said to her son. "Why are you delaying your packing?"

_Because I don't want to go, _he thought to himself. "We don't leave 'till Saturday."

"5 in the morning on Saturday" she reminded him.

"So everyone keeps telling me. Look, Mum, I'll be packed in time. No need to worry Ok." He promised her.

"I know you will." She said. "Look this means a lot to your father, the basketball is incredible over there."

He gave his Mum a look and smirked. "Mum, what do you know about basketball?"

"OK, so your father tells me it's incredible over there. This is a great opportunity Nate, so take it. It'll mean so much to both of us."

With that, his mother left his room. He collapsed onto the bed and ran his fingers through his dark hair and tried to relax but his message tone interrupted that.

-_hey man, party at mine tonight before you guys leave. One last goodbye! Plenty of ladies, plenty of booze. In YOUR honour man. End of summer too, gonna be huge!-_

Excellent, a party at one of his best mate, Tim's would take his mind of things for a little while. He walked over to his window and pulled it open.

"YO LUKE, BROOKE!" he yelled down to the swimming pool where they were. "PARTY TONIGHT AT TIM'S! WE'RE GOING!"

"YAY!" he could hear Brooke squealing. The both of them always did love parties, and they'd convinced Lucas over the years to love them too.

He looked around his room at the piles of clothes that lay everywhere._ OK_, he thought to himself, _back to packing for an hour!_

_Xxx_

"_Last call for Qantas Flight 323, direct to Los Angeles, California." Haley heard over the loud speaker._

"_Ok, guess it's time for us to get out of here." Uncle Jimmy, thanks for driving us here, it's really appreciated. I'm going to miss you!" Peyton went over to him and gave him a big hug._

"_I'll miss you too, Peyton." Jimmy said as he kissed her forehead._

"Mr. James, thanks so much for bringing us. I'll miss you."

"And I'll miss you too, bye Mate. Look after my baby girl and Peyton, ok?"

"Will do" he promised giving Jimmy a hug.

Haley looked at her Dad as he walked over and gave her a hug, Jimmy pulled his daughter in tight and whispered into her ear. "You're going to be fine over there, dream big and follow your heart. There won't be a day that I don't miss you. I love you."

"Thankyou" she whispered back "I love you too, I'll miss you so so much!" she was trying to fight back the tears now.

She turned to walk away but stopped.. "Wait Dad," she motioned for someone to come over and asked them politely if they'd mind taking a photo for them. She got her camera out of her bag and they all lined up.

"Say cheese!" the lady said.

"CHEESE!" they all said at once.

"Thank you." Jimmy said. "Now one of the three of you, the start of this amazing journey"

The three friends smiled big and Haley got her camera back of her Dad and gave him one last hug goodbye. She was going to miss him so much. The three of them linked arms and walked off, as they were walking off into the distance Haley was beginning to realize just how far from home she was going to be.


	2. Plane Trips & Parties

**OK, so I didn't post anything at the beginning of the last chapter because I'm kind of new to all of this. Thanks to everyone who reviewed my first chapter. This is my first story so I really do appreciate any comments letting me know what you think or what I could change, THANKS!**

**In no way do I own or have anything to do with One Tree Hill and its characters (except for being a fan!)**

**Chapter 2**

"Nathannn! Earth to Nathan!" Brooke said annoyed. He was busy playing some stupid basketball game and she needed help. "NATHAN!" she screeched a little louder.

"What Brooke?!" he asked irritated. "What is so important that you had to interrupt me from playing my game?"

"Ummm..." she mumbled twiddling with her thumbs. "Well..." she started "This dress?" she held out a little black dress with some sparkles at the top. "Or, the black shorts and pretty silver top?" she asked cautiously.

"Are you serious Brooke?" he yelled. "All you wanted was my opinion? You know, Gemma, or my Mum could have helped you with this."

"She's 4! And I didn't want to interrupt your Mum." she grumbled. "I need your opinion!"

"Why don't you ask Lucas" he asked. "He's in his room."

"Ah, he's different." She replied a little too quickly. Nathan began to smirk. "Nate, come on! I know that smirk, and you're wrong! Stop it, stop it RIGHT now!" she was rambling now.

"What am I thinking, Brooke?"

"You're thinking that I like him!" she put her hand over her mouth."

Nathan had completely switched off his game now, this was far more interesting. "I didn't say that."

"Dammit Nate, you tricked me! I DO NOT LIKE HIM; he's one of our best friends. No, no, no!"

Nathan could tell that his sister was getting frustrated; he got up and walked over to her. "It's OK Brookey," he whispered. "I'll keep your secret for you. I'm one of your best friends after all."

"Look, it's not like that, just drop it please?" She asked.

He put his hands up. "This conversation never happened." He smiled.

"Good, now clothes...?" she asked again.

"Um, your shorts and top?" he suggested.

"Thank you." She hugged her big brother thanking him more for the conversation than the outfit.

"He'll looooooooovvvve it!" Nathan teased.

Brooke grabbed her clothes, stormed out of his room and into her own and slammed the door. Nathan laughed and turned his PS-3 back on and continued his game of NBA Live.

"Nate?!" Luke asked walking into his friend's room. "What's the go with Brooke?"

"Nothing important, just giving her wardrobe advise."

Lucas looked at his friend, "Really?"

"Yeah man, its Brooke she over reacts all the time." He reassured him. _Or she's head over heels for some sandy haired guy I know._

"True." Lucas agreed. "Keen for tonight?"

"Yeah man, one last hoorah hey. It'll be good fun, get to say goodbye to everyone." He said.

"Yeah, it'll be a blast" Lucas agreed. "So, give me a controller so I can kick your ass in this game?"

"Game on." Nathan said chucking him a controller.

***

"Fifteen hours sitting on a freaking plane. It's such a long time." Peyton whined. "Honestly, it's been three hours and we are only flying over New Zealand now?" she said while pointing at the flight details on the back of the screen.

They'd just finished lunch that had been served. It actually wasn't that bad. Beef casserole, mashed potato, soft drink and amazing Kiwi Ice Cream for dessert.

"At least the food was good?" Haley implied.

Peyton and Jake just laughed.

"Let's check out some more in-flight entertainment?" Jake said. "There's so much to do on here, I'm sure it can keep us occupied for the majority of the flight."

"Doesn't seem too bad at all, hey Pey? Haley asked.

"Yeah, I guess. But seriously, 15 hours?!"

"I know, it's so long!" Haley agreed. "There's so much to do on these little mini screens though, I guess time will _fly _by!"

They all laughed, Haley knew the flight was going to be long so she decided to pull out one of her books that she was in the middle of reading. She might finish it by the time this flight was over.

***

The music was blaring so loud that Nathan could barely here Brooke and Lucas in the middle of some stupid argument right next to him. There were so many people at Tim's place, he couldn't believe his parents were letting him throw this party. Then again, they probably didn't know that he was. You couldn't walk three steps without someone bumping into you, there were things being trashed everywhere and he could already see stains on the carpet from some fruity red alcoholic drink that was being spilt. He was glad this wasn't his house, that's for sure. He grabbed two drinks from the table and shoved them into Brooke and Lucas' hands.

"Here" he said "drink these and shut up." He turned his head and went in search of Tim and could still tell that Brooke and Lucas were at each other's throats for who knows what.

"Nathan's here!" he could here Tim yell.

He'd already been there for an hour, but had been busy saying bye to some of the basketball players. Time sounded like such a girl sometimes, but he was one of his best friends so he tended to put up with who Brooke called "Dim".

"What's going on?" Nathan said bumping fists with Tim. He then noticed the two blondes standing with him. He put on his famous smirk. "Ladies" they both smiled back at him.

"Nate, this is Ashley and Carla. There going into college this year." Tim rushed out.

"Nice to meet you." The one with the long blonde hair said.

She was pretty attractive, if not typically but still, attractive. Nathan put out his hand to greet her but she grabbed it and kissed him ever so lightly on the cheek.

"I can see that" he replied keeping his cool.

"I'm Ashley, wanna dance?"

"No." He said. "I mean, no thanks, I don't really dance."

"Ok..." Ashley said sounding disappointed. She bit her lip, "How 'bout a spa?"

"Sounds good, you lead the way." He looked over his shoulder and noticed Brooke and Lucas on the couch and that they were both shaking their heads at him. He gave them both the cockiest smile that he could manage and Brooke abruptly stopped shaking her head. Nathan just laughed, he knew she liked their best friend and it was only going to be sooner or later that it came out.

***

Nathan, Brooke and Lucas were on their way home and none of them had expected to drink so much, or be out so late. It was four in the morning and they were walking, or stumbling you could say, their way home. Nathan and Lucas were pushing Brooke in a trolley along the foreshore because Brooke's shoes that Nathan had picked out were hurting here feet. Truth be told, they just did this all the time. They would go to a party, get drunk, meet up at the end of the night, stumble home together and push Brooke in a trolley. It was there thing.

"Nathannnn..." Brooke slurred. "The um... The shoes. The ones that YOUUU so happened to pick out for me. They make my feet real sore." She pouted. "And it's all YOURRR fault." She than crossed her arms together like a little two year old.

"But Brooke... They were meant to look could so that you could impress L..."

Nathan was cut off by the sound of Brooke having a "coughing fit" you could say.

"I mean," Nathan corrected. _Shit _he cursed himself _she'd never of forgiven me if I let that slip... _"You were with Mason right? I here all the girls think he's hot. But defiantly not good enough for you." He corrected.

"I don't think he's hot." Lucas put in.

"But... You're... A... GUY!" Brooke yelled annoyed. "You were with Sasha anyway. Slut." She added.

"Oh c'mon, she's not a slut Brooke." Lucas tried to convince her, even though he knew she was.

"Is too."

"Is not..."

"Is TOO!"

_Here we go_ Nathan thought to himself. He put his hands in the shape of a gun, cocked it, put it to his head and pulled the trigger. Here they go again, constant fighting over nothing. They may as well be together. He'd had enough and they hadn't even started yet. He let go of the trolley and jumped onto the soft sand, then ran down to the beach. He took of his clothes leaving him in his briefs and dove into the crashing waved. It was so peaceful under the water, nothing to bother you... just quite.

That was until Lucas jumped on top of him. Brooke was running down to the water fully clothed and jumped into the water. The three of them began dunking each other and chucking Brooke around like she was a beach ball. They all had the biggest smiles on their faces and for the first time he felt that just maybe, just MAYBE, he'd survive this year.

**Let me know what you think, :)**


	3. Letting go

**Sorry it has been a while since I updated this, it just didn't feel like anyone was reading but I guess I got inspired. Please leave your thoughts, it is greatly appreciated.**

**Chapter 3**

It was such a nice afternoon in the crisp air of sunny California. There were groups of friends laughing and shopping, couples walking hand in hand and then there were three best friends sitting in a way to uptight and fancy restraint on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills.

Why were they here? At a restraint that none of them could afford? Because they could be. They were paying way too much for food they didn't even like, they had a miserable flight and were incredibly sleep deprived; but they decide to not waste there only afternoon in the famous city of L.A. They'd already walked along the 'Hollywood Walk of Fame'; they went to see the 'Hollywood' sign took a whole heap of photos and now? They were eating the worst lunch of their lives.

"This." Haley pointed to her food. "Is officially disgusting."

"No joke." Peyton replied throwing her fork onto her plate.

"And we didn't even see any celebrities. This sucks." Jake put in.

"I know right, you always see them in the magazines." Peyton said.

"Hmmm, let's go to the beach?" Haley asked.

"Venice Beach!" Peyton said. "Funky shopping and what not." She added.

"There's a bus leaving in ten minutes." Jake said looking at his timetable. "We better hurry."

They left the right amount of money in the receipt folder but put in no extra money for tips. The food was terrible and the service was even worse. They wouldn't be back anytime soon anyway.

***

"Trust us to come here when the summer is nearing its end." Haley sighed as they were sitting on the beach.

"And we'll miss our summer back home." Peyton put in.

"Oh" Jake stated. "Don't forget the fact that we're basically enduring an extra six months of school." He said sarcastically.

"Aw, boo hoo." Haley said poking her tongue out at him. "Photo?" She smiled.

She held out her camera in front of the three of them and snapped a photo. She was constantly taking photos, making photographic memories.

"For the scrapbook." She said. "Here's to well, our Senior Year I guess you could say. With our best friends." She smiled at the two of them. They all bumped their fists together.

"So..." Peyton started. "Macca's anyone? I'm starving!"

They all laughed. At least they knew they'd get something they all liked there. They got the next bus so they could get back to their hotel before darkness fell.

***

"Brooke, honey." Karen said. "Your parents couldn't make it home to say goodbye?" She asked.

"Nope. But I'm not really surprised, you know?" She sighed. "I mean, I get a card and a cheque for my birthday and Christmas so what is there to expect?" She sounded hurt.

Nathan and Lucas worried about her sometimes. Most of the time she was completely upbeat and happy but she longed for a loving family. She was always welcome at the Scott residence, but she wanted somewhere to call her own.

"Maybe we could adopt you? You know, like as an annoying older sister?" Nathan suggested.

She smiled at him; everyone was always making her feel as much as a part of the family as the rest of them already were. "Maybe you could."

"You'd have to have hot friends but." Nathan smirked at her.

She poked her tongue out at him as everyone else began to laugh but were interrupted by a little girls' voice.

"But what about me?" Gemma frowned. "I'm your sister."

"You'll always be the favourite" Lucas told her.

"Plus, you're not annoying." Nathan smiled at her.

"And," Brooke said. "You'd get the best big sister in the whole entire world. And, you'd get all my shoes and clothes."

"Yayyyy!" Gemma clapped. "Brooke's gonna be my big sister!" She sing songed.

"Oh no." Nathan groaned. "I think one Brooke is enough for me."

Everyone laughed and continued eating family dinner which would sadly be the last one in quite a while. Nathan thought to himself how much he was going to miss it, being at home, being with his family and his friends. He made a vow to himself to make sure he kept in contact with them, because one too many times his friends had headed to boarding school, they had a farewell and that was it, no more friendship.

***

After all watching a movie together, Dan, Karen and Gemma headed to bed. Nathan, Brooke and Lucas were downstairs.

"Are you boys packed?" Brooke asked the brothers.

"Certainly am, however I am so not looking forward to the two thirty wake up call." Lucas answered.

Nathan had a thought at how they could spend there last night in Malibu. "I have an idea." He told Brooke and Lucas. "Personally, I think it is pointless going to sleep when we have to get up so freaking early. So how about we just stay up, watch movies and play video games?" He suggested. "Like old times."

"Actually" Brooke said. "I have to agree with you for once, that sounds good." She got up at of her seat. "I'm gonna go get all of the photo albums." She smiled.

"So, have you packed yet?" Lucas asked Nathan.

"Yeah man." Nathan sighed. "I finished up this afternoon. I mean, I figure if Mum and Dad really want us to do this then I'll stick it through." He explained.

"It's good to hear that, little brother."

"Yeah, it is." Nathan said mustering up a smile.

***

"I think I'm gonna call it a night." Haley told her two friends.

They were all lounging around there hotel room watching T.V. but there wasn't really anything on, which didn't surprise Haley. Peyton and Haley had snagged the two single beds and Jake had taken the couch.

Peyton yawned. "Me too, been a long forty eight hours or so."

"That it has." Jake agreed. "I'll be seeing the both of you bright and early in the morning."

"Night Jake." Peyton said.

"Three thirty in the morning hey, goodnight guys." Haley said before shutting off the light.

***

Lucas was laughing at a photo that he had in his hands. "Do you guys remember this?" He asked.

Brooke took the photo. "Ohhhh!" She said. "That was our little road trip to Mexico. It was so much fun, just the three of us without a care in the world." She smiled.

"Good times." Nathan agreed. "It was so hot that day, look how red we are." He pointed to the photo.

It was one in the morning, just an hour and a half until they had to get ready to leave. Nathan was smiling at another one of Brooke's photos. It was the three of them in the backyard at his home, the summer just gone. Nathan had a basketball in his hands, he was halfway in the air ready to make a slam dunk off of a trampoline into the pool, Lucas had Brooke in his arms about to push her into the pool, and they both had giddy smiles on their faces. Nathan smiled again. Each of them looked content and happy, in that moment.

The three of them continued to look at photos, eat way too much junk food and play video games for the next hour and a half. Dan and Karen came down the stairs yawning.

"Have you kids slept?" Dan asked.

"Nope." Nathan told them. "Stayed up all night like we used to."

"Just with not as much noise." Dan laughed. "At least you will all be tired for the trip." He said.

Karen smiled. "I'm going to put some pancakes on. Go get ready and we'll head to the airport as soon as breakfast is finished."

"Sounds perfect Karen." Brooke told her.

"I'm going to go have a shower." Nathan told his Mum.

"Don't forget to say goodbye to your sister." Karen smiled.

The three of them went upstairs, Brooke to use their parents' bedroom and the boys headed into Gemma's incredibly bright purple room.

"Gem" Nathan whispered. "Wake up beautiful, we have to leave soon."

She yawned. "But I don't want you to leave."

Lucas went over to his little sisters' bed and sat down next to her. "I'm going to miss you Gem, so much." He said. He gave her a big hug and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you baby girl."

"I love you too Lukey poo! Bye!" she said giving him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"You have a shower first man." Nathan told his brother.

Lucas nodded and walked out of the room.

"Did you have a good dream?" Nathan asked Gemma.

"Yeah" She sighed. "I dreamt that you weren't leaving." She said with a pout.

Nathan felt a pang in his chest; he felt all the love in the world for his little sister.

"I'll call you s much as I can. I'm going to miss you so much, the most actually. Call me whenever you want to talk, I love you pretty girl." He kissed her on the forehead and layed down next to her.

"I'll miss you the most too. I love you Natey." She said back to him and gave him a big hug.

He hugged her back, as hard as he could without hurting her.

***

The sound of Haley's alarm was going off and she groaned as she rolled over to turn it off. "That time already?" She sighed to herself.

Peyton and Jake were both putting their hands on their eyes as Haley turned on the light, they were lucky they were staying right next to the airport, otherwise they'd more than likely miss their flight.

"I cannot wait until we are at our own rooms at the academy." Peyton groaned. "All I want to do is sleep!"

"I second that" Jake said as he got out of bed to put some bread in the toaster. "Vegemite on toast anyone?" He asked.

"Best. Breakfast. Ever." Haley smiled. It was by far, the only thing she could eat for days and not get sick of it.

After they'd eaten their breakfast and all had quick showers and cleaned up, they headed over to the airport to endure, yet another long flight.

***

"Next please!" The lady at the check-in desk called sounding a little annoyed.

"Finally." Haley said to her friends. "Took long enough."

She grabbed her suitcase and went up to the lady, handed over her passport, student visa and flight itinerary. They let her through and she waited on the other side as Peyton and Jake both checked in.

"Well." Peyton clapped her hands together. "I guess she wasn't a morning person."

Haley and Jake laughed at her.

"Guess not." Jake replied. "I guess I wouldn't want to be dealing with this many teenagers this early in the morning either."

"Yeah, good point." Haley said. "They're everywhere."

"Heading to the school?" Peyton assumed.

"Mm, so who wants a coffee?" Jake asked.

"Oh, yes please!" Peyton said.

"I'm most defiantly keen for that." Haley said.

"Now to find a coffee shop..." Jake said as they headed off in search of a _Gloria Jeans_ or something.

***

"Nathan, man!" Lucas asked as the three friends were standing in line at Starbucks to order some much needed coffee.

"Yeah, what?" He asked of his brother.

"Put a smile on your face." Broke said to him. "Look, we're going to be fine." She smiled putting her hand on his back.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "Guess so, but why are there so many people at the airport at four thirty in the morning? It's ridiculous, there are people everywhere."

"It's a massive airport Nate, people need to be places." Lucas answered him. "But trust me, I'd be in bed if I could be."

"No doubt." Nathan said.

***

"_Now boarding Business class only for Flight AirUSA199"_

"That's us." Brooke jumped up.

"Here we go." Nathan complained. "Five hours of sitting on my ass."

"Joy." Lucas sighed.

***

"I wish we could fly business class." Peyton pouted.

"Yeah that extra leg room and reclining chair would do us the world of good." Haley agreed.

"There, there ladies." Jake said. "Just five more hours of flying left."

"_Now boarding Economy class for Flight AirUSA199"_

"Let's go!" Haley said pumping her fist into the air.

"Um, we're seats Row F seat 7, 8 and 9." Peyton said.

"Just there." Haley pointed. "And I heaps bag the window!"

They each took their seats and got as comfortable as they could as an announcement came over the speaker.

"_Welcome to Air USA Flight 199 direct to Charlotte, North Carolina. The flight will take duration of approximately five hours with an arrival time of ten am. Standard Eastern Time. Unfortunately our in flight entertainment will be unavailable during this flight. We're sorry for any inconveniences that this may have caused. Please sit back, relax and enjoy your flight with Air USA."_

"Great." Jake complained.

The three of them each pulled out there _iPods _and tried to get some sleep.

***

"This sucks." Nathan groaned.

"Oh stop whining Nate, this is the start of a great year I can feel it." Brooke said to him.

"I wish I could believe you." He muttered.

"Come on Nate, cheer up." Lucas said.

He gave each of them a fake smile and took out his iPod and tried to get some sleep.

**Let me know what you think. :)**


	4. Not your average Academy

**Thank you to everyone for reviewing and subscribing. :) Things may, I guess you could say, change a little in this chapter. I hope you guys still stick with it. **

**Chapter 4**

**Not your average Academy**

After arriving at Charlotte Domestic Airport all students who were heading to Tree Hill Academy were asked to assemble at the bus depot at the airport to sign on and board the awaiting busses to take them to Tree Hill.

"We ready guys?" Jake asked of Haley and Peyton.

"Yeah, let's do this." Peyton answered.

Haley looked around the bus depot, there were teenagers everywhere. She didn't want to be nervous, she really didn't but it was starting to dawn on her that the only two people she had with her, the only two people she could rely on.

Jake and Peyton were looking at her. "Let's go." She smiled at them.

She put her arms around them as they walked over to the bus.

"Look, there are some seats in the back." Peyton said.

Haley and Peyton took a seat together and Jake sat in front of them.

"How long does it take to get to Tree Hill again?" Jake asked.

"Um about four and a half hours if I can remember correctly." Haley answered him.

"Are you serious?" Peyton sighed. "I am so over this travelling business."

"You have no idea." Haley agreed. "Actually I kind of need to use the bathroom."

"Seriously Haley, maybe you should have thought of that before you got on the bus." Peyton rolled her eyes. "Kidding, I need to go to..."

"Girls." Jake muttered to himself and rolled his eyes.

***

Nathan, Brooke and Lucas got onto the bus but noticed it was rather full but Brooke had insisted they had to get on this one which meant Nathan was going to get stuck sitting next to someone who either snores or has bad breath. _Great_, he thought to himself and rolled his eyes.

Brooke and Lucas had taken some seats together so Nathan went up to some more seats but there were bags on them which left him with one option.

"Do you mind?" He gestured at the brown haired guy.

"Not at all, take a seat." He told him

"Thanks, I'm Nathan." He put out his hand.

"Jake." He took Nathan's hand.

"You're Australian." Nathan stated.

"Nice observation." Jake laughed. "So you keen for the Academy?"

"Yeah man." Nathan sighed.

Jake looked at him. "You don't seem all that happy about it?" He asked.

"To be honest I'm not really." Nathan said. "This year was meant to be my senior year, you know the best year of high school." But no, he was being sent to Tree Hill Academy, just what he needed, his parents had said. Not.

"I see." Jake said. "Well at least you don't have to endure an extra six months of school."

"Maybe you win." Nathan laughed.

"Maybe." Jake laughed. "I'm up for the challenge, going to school in a different country and all."

"But you left behind all of your friends right?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, well..." Jake was about to explain why they were here but Haley and Peyton were taking their seats.

"Sorry we took so long." Haley said. "The line up in there was huge."

"Oh hey." Peyton put out her hand.

Nathan took it. "How's it going? I'm Nathan."

"Good thanks, I'm Peyton." She smiled. "This is Haley."

"Hi." Haley smiled. "Nice to meet you, sorry Jake isn't too good with introductions."

"Hey..." Jake protested.

The two girls laughed. Peyton had blonde curly hair and hazel eyes. Haley had medium length auburn hair with big brown eyes, really big, really pretty, brown eyes.

Brooke leant over and hit Nathan in the shoulder.

"Um, sorry my friend Brooke doesn't like to be left out." Nathan told Jake and the girls. "Brooke, this is Jake, Haley and Peyton." He pointed over to Lucas, "And that is my brother Lucas."

Brooke smiled and Lucas waved. "It's very nice to meet you all." Brooke said.

"Likewise." Haley smiled.

"So... No offence or anything but you guys look, way tired."

"Brooke..." Nathan and Lucas groaned.

"Sorry about that, she's a little forward." Lucas laughed.

"So you think we look tired too?" Haley asked him.

"Ah, wait... shit..."

"It's OK man, chill." Jake laughed, Nathan laughing along with him giving each other a fist pump.

"But really," Brooke began again. "Why are you guys so tired?" She asked again.

"We're a little sleep deprived." Peyton laughed.

"Why?" Brooke asked.

"OK," Haley stepped in. "First we had a two and a half hour car ride to Sydney Airport, then a fifteen hour flight to Los Angeles. A stupid eighteen hour stopover there, where we all basically gave up on sleep, then the five hour flight to Charlotte and now another freaking five hour bus ride." She explained to Nathan, Lucas and Brooke.

"Yeah, so I guess we kind of have a reason to be tired?" Peyton asked jokingly.

"Huh..." Brooke added. "Wow, I'd be tired too. I mean no wonder all of your hair looks bad."

"Brooke!" Nathan and Lucas yelled while Haley, Peyton and Jake just laughed at the bubbly brunette.

***

"So why boarding school? In the smallest of small towns in North Carolina?" Nathan asked.

They were a few hours into the bus trip now and everyone had come to the conclusion that it was impossible to sleep on a crowded bus full of teenagers whether they liked it or not.

"Our parents." Jake answered him.

"Yeah," Peyton continued for him "Apparently this school is meant to be good for us or something, but yeah why half way across the world?"

"We have no idea." Haley finished. "But sure, we're defiantly up for the challenge. So why are the three of you heading over here? How do you know each other?" She asked.

"Well Nathan here is my twin, and Brooke's been our friend since forever." Lucas said.

"Wait, you guys are twins?" Haley asked shocked. "You look nothing alike."

"Thank god for that." Nathan laughed.

"Hey." Lucas smiled.

"Our Dad thinks it'll be good for us or something too." Nathan groaned.

"Don't sound too thrilled." Haley laughed.

He smiled. "I'm not really, to be honest."

Haley was going to ask why, but decided against it. He looked like he really didn't want to talk about it, so she let it go.

"I think it's beautiful here." Haley said taking in the scenery.

"I guess it is..." Nathan mused while looking outside. "I guess I never really noticed before."

But why would he have? He'd been to the east coast before, plenty of times. But yeah, he'd never actually noticed the scenery. He didn't want to seem rude, he really didn't but he just didn't want to talk so he sighed and tried to get a little sleep for the rest of the trip.

***

"Welcome back everyone!" A tall blonde beamed at the teenage presence in front of her. "I hope that all of you have enjoyed your summer and are all ready and rearing to go for the year. If you've been here before, you know the way, so off you go!"

"She has A LOT of energy." I muttered to Peyton and Brooke. We'd been switched into boys and girls, no idea why, but we had.

"No word of a lie." Peyton laughed.

There was about twelve girls, and twelve boys left in the auditorium of the, what I presumed was The Academy.

"Welcome fresh faces!" She continued. "My name is Danielle, and I will be looking after the girls. This," she pointed over to her right "is James, and he will be taking care of the boys. So boys, I'll leave you with him, and girls, follow me."

We started walking through the auditorium and then headed outside. There, waiting for us was a mini bus.

"More travelling?" I groaned.

"This is getting beyond a joke." Peyton said as we hopped on the bus.

"OK girls, as I've already stated my name is Danielle, and I will be taking care of you all as you guys settle in. The academy is about another fifteen minutes through the forest. We have dinner at seven sharp tonight, and there will be a map showing you where you have to go. Now I will be putting you into your room assignments, there will be six girls in each room. In the first room we have Christy, Ashley, Gabrielle, Molly, Tara and Bianca. The second room will be Haley, Brooke, Peyton, Bevin, Rachel and Mia. Everyone happy?" She asked.

Everyone smiled at her in return, I have no idea who is in my room except for Peyton and Brooke, but let's be honest, Peyton, I love her. And Brooke, she seems really fun, really nice so yeah I can't really complain. I just hope that the other girls are nice as well, could be a long year otherwise. My only complaint would be, rooming with five other girls, it should be fun. OK, I guess it still could be a really long year.

"Once we arrive, you have the rest of the day to get settled, meet your roommates and see where everyone is from. Just make sure you are on time for dinner, you do not want to miss anything." She smiled at us.

Once we arrived at our, well they weren't really rooms. They're cabins; we're spending the next year in cabins? Wow. But they're actually really cosy, and two stories so I guess they're upper class cabins. I ended up 'bunking' with Brooke. Yes, we have bunk beds, but double bed bunk beds, plus we're all sleeping in the one room, so basically the top floor is three bathrooms, and six beds. Down stairs is the kitchen, dining, and living area. It's pretty cosy I guess, I can't complain we could be staying somewhere much worse than this. Just makes me think how much money my father was actually putting into this.

We all decided to just unpack everything first, to save doing it later. Just kind of seemed like the smart thing to do. It was about half past five now and we were all sitting around the living area introducing ourselves.

"OK, I'll go first." The red headed girl started. "This all seems really awkward and like summer camp, introducing ourselves, but whatever. My name is Rachel, I'm from New York City and I'm seventeen. My parents seemed to think, this would be better for me then travelling around the world with them, lame huh?"

"Very lame!" The blonde headed girl agreed, and we laughed at the enthusiasm she had in her voice. "Well, my name is Bevin and I'm from Texas. I'm seventeen, and yeah my parents seemed to think that this was the school for me. So here I am." She smiled.

"Well..." A small brunette started, and seemed very shy at that. "My name is Mia, I'm seventeen and I'm from Charlotte. My parents also, thought this was the school for me." She smiled shyly.

"Does anyone else see a pattern here?" Peyton asked. "Everyone's parents seem to think that it's better for us to be here? Weird. Well, sup I'm Peyton. From Australia, and yeah seventeen and my Dad decided this was the place for me."

"Haley James." I said. "Seventeen, from Australia and yep, Dad decided here is the place for me, half way across the world and everything." I sighed.

Brooke looked at me and gave me a smile. "Brooke Davis, seventeen and I'm from Miami. I don't see my parents, like ever. But yet somehow they wanted me to come here too. This is a little eerie and strange, why are we all here? Do we have anything in common? I mean besides being seventeen?"

"I don't think we do." Rachel agreed. "No offence to you, but I'd much rather be in Italy with hot boys right now."

"That does sound nice." Bevin sighed.

I don't really understand, how all our parents had decided that we needed to be here? Sure, maybe we do. But why? I was a good student, and yeah I thought going overseas was going to be quite a cool experience, but do I need to be here?

***

After me and the rest of my roommates had got all our 'introductions' over, which was lame by the way, we headed down to the dining hall because we just HAD to be on time for this dinner. We were sitting at a table, when we seen Brooke, Haley, Peyton, and a few other girls, who must of been there roommates heading towards our table.

"These seats taken?" Brooke winked.

"Not at all." Mouth stammered.

I had to laugh; he was defiantly the geeky one out of our room, but still seemed cool none the less. He had actually grown up not too far from where the academy was.

Brooke smiled at him. "Brooke Davis."

"Mouth McFadden."

"So, Luke, are these your new roomies?" She asked Lucas.

"Yeah, this is Mouth, who you've already met." He laughed. "And then that's Skills and Chase and you know the others."

"Skills?" Bevin asked. "What sort of name is that?"

"Oh, I've got 'Skills' baby." He winked at her.

"Mind introducing us?" I asked Brooke.

"Oh yeah, well you know Hales and Peyton. And that's Bevin, Rachel and Mia."

"Nice to meet you all." I smiled at them, and they all smiled back at me.

"So," Haley began. "Any ideas on why we had to be so on time tonight?" She asked.

"Maybe they'll run out of food." Bevin said with a completely serious face. "And they don't want our fresh faces to miss out."

I couldn't help but laugh at her. She was most defiantly a blonde.

"Who knows?" I said to Haley. "I guess we'll have to find out."

"Yeah, I guess so."

_BOOM! _A massive noise, what sounded like thunder was going off, again and again. There was fire coming from the roof.

"Do we run?!" Brooke asked panicked.

"No one else is!" Haley said frantically.

Before we knew it, there was what looked to be soldiers marching through the main doors, except they weren't marching; they were freaking flying, with freaking wings! Boys and girls alike were all flying around the room, with smiles on their faces and then gracefully landing behind their seats.

"Welcome!" Boomed a male's voice. I looked to the front of the dining hall and there was an elderly man, who would have stood at least six foot six, would have been amazing at basketball mind you, standing in front of us. "My name is Sir Marcus White and I am the head of this Academy. By the looks of our new recruits, you have no idea if what you saw was a dream or an optical illusion?"

You could say that again.

"Am I right?" We all nodded both tables of us 'fresh faces' or 'new recruits' or whatever the hell they wanted to call us.

"Well maybe I should start from the beginning." He smiled. "You've been bought here, because you are special. You may not know it yet, but you are here because you were born to protect the world and every single breathing thing in it." Shouldn't he be saying 'save the world' or something, that would be cool? "You just saw the rest of our student body fly into the room; this will be you if you live up to the challenges, if you finish the challenges, if you pass the challenges, if you finish this test of the next nine months. I can guarantee you, that all of you will not make it through, that some of you just aren't destined for this, some of you aren't fit to be a warrior, some of you who just won't have the heart." He smiled down on the two tables before him, why we were freaking seated at the front, I have no idea. "Now you may eat."

Now we can eat? Was he serious? Like, seriously? I looked at everyone at my table; all with shocked faces probably mirror imaging my own.

"Um, a warrior?"

"Protect the world?"

"Um... What the?"

"Of course I have the heart, don't I?"

"We're going to fly?"

"What test?"

"Is this some kind of dream?"

"Am I being punk'd?"

"Won't make it through what?"

"Aren't fit enough?"

"Now we can freaking eat? Is he freaking serious? Warriors, protect the world, tests, challenges, THEY JUST FLEW INTO THE GOD DAMNED ROOM!"

I think, it's quite safe to say, that we're all a little confused.

**Let me know what you thing! :)**


	5. Processing Information

**Hi guys! I know it has been forever since I updated and I'm incredibly sorry! I haven't been motivated, that's my only excuse. There was a typo last chapter, I said Brooke was from Miami, but she's from Malibu! Sorry. This chapter was hard to write, I'm not going to lie. I hope you all understand it (I actually hope people are still reading...).**

**Chapter 5  
Processing Information**

Nathan realized that no one at his table had even thought about touching there food since it occurred to him that most of them were still in shock. Nobody's parents had not told us about this whole, saving the world or whatever thing. There were so many different people talking at once and he was getting incredibly confused. Brooke, Jake and Peyton were talking about how they weren't meant to protect to save the world and how the hell they were meant to fight in challenges, Mouth, Skills, Chase, Rachel, Bevin and Mia were talking quietly among each other. He looked over at Haley, who looked just as confused as he felt.

"We couldn't help but notice that you haven't tried your food yet, is there something wrong?" A curly brunette asked the group of confused looking students.

Nathan didn't even notice her come over; she was standing with a tall, muscular brunette guy.

"Nothing is wrong." Lucas said. "We're all just a little confused as to what is going on."

"Confused about what?" The guy asked.

Nathan had to laugh. "Are you serious?" _The guy thinks we have no reason to be confused? We just see people fly into a room. They had wings, and we shouldn't be confused? I mean, that totally makes sense. _Nathan thought to himself.

He leaned over and whispered into the girl's ear and she nodded. _Um, we're right here?_ They both pulled up spare seats and sat at the table with us.

"OK, my name is Landon and this is Kaidense. We've been assigned to this group to help you get through the school year, the six of you in particular." He smiled.

"Don't you mean twelve?" Haley asked.

"No just the six of you." He smiled again.

"So help us then." Peyton spoke up. "Tell us why we're here."

"I guess that's a good question to start with." Kaidense smiled. "Some people are born like us, and some people are chosen." She looked back at us. We looked back at her, still confused. "OK, the six of you were chosen the other six at this table were born."

Nathan shot his new roommates a look, looked back at the Lucas, Brooke and his new friends from Australia and back at the, leaders I guess you could say. There was no difference between the ways any of them appeared, nothing at all. So he was still confused, still very confused as to why they were here. I mean, they were chosen, yeah he got that. But why?

"If you have, either one or two full blood parents you instantly become a full blooded Eyrexe or Deerpre..." Kaidense was cut off.

"I'm sorry..." Brooke said. "An Eyrexe or a Deerpre? What are they?"

"An Eyrexe is a male and a Deerpre is a female." Kaidense answered.

"An Eyrexe is strong, courageous, determined, and hardworking and oozes self confidence, and will eventually grow wings." Landon explained. "An Eyrexe's wings will be a green colour with its own patterns developing due to the Eyrexe's personality. However an Eyrexe can lack in communication skills and speed."

"A Deerpre is fast, determined, incredibly intelligent, a good communicator and hardworking. Her wings will become purple, and just like an Eyrexe will develop their own patterns due to a Deerpre's personality. A Deerpre is nowhere near as strong as an Eyrexe and lacks self confidence and courage." Kaidense finished.

"Whilst both of them have their strengths and weaknesses, when they work together they form an incredibly strong bond and work incredibly well together. Both work well in teams and both are fast learners; however the Deerpre tends to pick up things much faster."

"You will be bonded to one another, this will happen tomorrow in your first theory class. Now, eat up little cherubs, you're going to need as much energy as you can get." With that, Kaidense and Landon gave us all big smiles and walked off.

***

"I suspect you all enjoyed your meals!" Mr. White announced to the room. "As you look around, you will have all noticed our new comers. Make sure you make them feel like they're at home." He smiled. "We welcome you, and also hope that you aren't too confused." He chuckled. "You all would have met your leaders who are all up on stage with me now. They're here to help you if you have any questions about anything that is going on. You may all head back to your rooms. Oh, and remember, CURFEW is at eleven sharp, do NOT miss it."

Everyone got up and piled out of the room in all of their little groups that had obviously been made in prior years and Haley couldn't help but feel the most confused she had ever been in her entire life. She got it she really did, but she still didn't understand why they had picked her.

"So you guys want to go for a walk or something?" Jake said putting his arm around Haley and Peyton. "You guys are more than welcome to come too." He smiled at Nathan, Lucas and Brooke.

"Yeah sure." Brooke smiled. "I don't think I want to go back to the room yet anyway."

"Yeah I agree." Haley told her. "I'm still struggling to process all of this."

The new group of friends headed out toward the doors and wandered around until they found a little park by the lake not too far from both of their rooms. It was quite a pretty place, the lake was glistening from the moonlight and there were big oak trees, making the place feel a little bit like a fairytale, because it was so pretty.

"Tell me something..." Lucas said. "We get bonded tomorrow? Is that weird to anyone else, I mean are you guys scared you're going to get bonded to some person you have no idea who they are, or what they're like?"

"But isn't that the point of being bonded?" Haley said. "I mean, to get to know somebody, there is obviously a reason that you're going to be bonded to THAT particular person."

"Otherwise it wouldn't be a bond." Nathan agreed.

"I guess you're right." Lucas muttered. "But this is too weird!" He sighed.

"I get what you're saying." Peyton said. "I mean, do our parents know what sort of school this is? Or do they just think it's some kind of boarding school?"

"And do we tell them?" Jake put in.

"There is obviously a reason we're here." Brooke said. "And I guess we should just stick it out."

"And grow wings." Haley laughed. "Freaking wings!" They all began to laugh.

"Are all schools like this in America?" Jake laughed.

"Ha. Ha." Nathan rolled his eyes. "Imagine playing basketball with wings..."

Brooke leant over and hit him. "How do you always manage to link everything to that stupid game?"

"Hey it's not stupid." Lucas pouted.

"Aw poor diddums." Brooke laughed. "Um, I have a quick question."

"Yeah?" Lucas asked.

"Not for you, but for you guys." She looked over at Haley, Peyton and Jake. "Didn't you put schools into a hat? Or something?"

Haley looked at her. "We did... but our parents chose the schools, you know to make sure they were 'safe'" She said with inverted comers. "It's all a little, um... what's the word?" She wondered out loud.

"Ironic?" Nathan asked her.

"Yeah, that's the one." She said looking out towards the lake.

Nathan suddenly felt like being completely spontaneous. He had no idea why, but he felt like he had to do it. So he did, he ran up to Haley picked her up and jumped in the water with her.

She screamed. "OMG, it's so freaking cold in here!" She splashed Nathan's face. "Why did you do that?"

"Honestly?" He asked. "No idea, but you know, everything else hasn't gone how I thought so why not?"

Haley laughed at him and looked over at the others; they too were jumping in the water. They all stayed there for a few hours, acted like young children. They swam, and dunked each other, ran around the park, played on the swings, chased each other around and just let go before an entirely different world began in the next morning.

***

After waking up early, and going through her daily morning routine Haley waited for the other girls to get ready. She was still as confused as she was last night, but she assumed that classes would be sure to clear a few things up for her. She was seriously worried about who she was going to 'bonded' with, what if it turned out to be some sort of freak?

"A penny for your thoughts?"

"Oh, hey Brooke. Just thinking about today, you know the whole bonding thing."

"Yeah, I didn't realize it was in front of the entire academy. I'm nervous too, but we'll get through it."

"Thanks Brooke." Haley smiled.

"You girls ready?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah," Haley sighed. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Off to start a new life!" Brooke said.

"A new life..." Haley mumbled.

***

When the three girls arrived at the Academy hall, they noticed that the room had been re arranged into what looked like year groups. There were ages raging from what looked like little five year olds and the oldest people looked about twenty three or twenty four.

Haley looked over and seen Jake waving, so they headed in that direction. When they got there they sat across from the boys, who also had quite nervous looks on their faces. They looked to be at a table with all new students however, because they all looked just as nervous as each other.

"Good morning Students." Mr. White said. "Welcome to the beginning of a new school year. As you may have noticed there are quite a few more students here today then there was last night. We welcome you all. If you look around you will notice that you are all seated in year groups that is apart from our twelfth year students. You have been set into two different groups, I'm sure you all understand why. Before breakfast begins, I would like to call up Mrs. Liana White to help me with the bonding of our twelfth year students."

"Good morning everyone." Mrs White began. "As you are aware, my name is Mrs. Liana White, I am here to help bond the twelfth year students. If you would all like to make your way up here please, the boys to stand on the left of me and the girls to my right. We will call one boy up at a time, and I will let you know which young lady you will be bonded with. Everybody understand? OK, let's begin. John Miller?"

As the bonding began, Nathan got a nervous feeling in his stomach. Like that feeling he got before he stood out on the court, except that went away as soon as he stepped on and began the match. He was nervous for the first time in years, and he didn't like it. He just wanted it to be his turn so he could get off this stupid stage.

"Jake Jagielski?" Nathan watched as Jake walked up. Mrs White looked directly into his eyes for about thirty seconds, pondered for about another thirty and said "Peyton Sawyer." Jake immediately smiled and Peyton went up to him, they grabbed their class schedule and walked off and sat back at the table.

_That easy? _Nathan thought. He wished it was, he just couldn't shake the nervous feeling and he didn't know why.

"Lucas Scott?" Mrs White did exactly the same thing with Lucas; she looked into his eyes, pondered a little bit and said "Brooke Davis." Lucas smiled, and Nathan looked over to Brooke and he had to laugh. She did a little jump, which she tried to make go unnoticed and walked up to Lucas.

_Maybe now they can admit their feelings for each other. _Nathan smiled.

"Nathan Scott?" That got him out of his cocky thoughts. He walked up, his legs felt like jelly. Brooke and Lucas both got someone that they genuinely cared about, someone that they had grown up with, someone they _wanted_ to be with. He sat down on the chair, and Mrs White walked up to him, and looked into his eyes. Except, with him she looked into them for about a minute. This only made him more nervous. _What if I can't bond with anyone? Is there something wrong with me? Will I get kicked out, and sent back to Malibu?_ "Haley James." She smiled.

Nathan's first thought was, who the hell is Haley James? But soon he noticed the petite brunette that he had first met on the bus walking towards him still looking nervous. He smiled at her, got up and put his arm around her. "We'll get through this together." He whispered and they walked back to their table.

It turned out that there were about thirty people in their grade. Eighteen of them were born, and the others were chosen. They were each given their class schedule, which were all the same. They had three classes each day. In the morning they studied history of the Eyrexe and Deerpre, they then had a small break. In the middle of the day the studied Basic English, Maths and Science which alternated days. They had English on Monday, Science on Tuesday, Maths on Wednesday, English on Thursday and Science on Friday. In the afternoons, they had training, training how to be a warrior.

Let the school year begin.

**I'm sorry it wasn't very long; I just wanted to get it up. Let me know what you think. :)**


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